Birth By The Fire
by Smug Canary
Summary: A look into the lives and loves of Ty Lee, Mai and Azula. -pairings vary-
1. Adaptation

How long has it been since someone touched part of you other than your body?

o-o-o

Ty Lee scuffs her feet along the ground as she follows Azula. She is trying to make them scrape in time with Azula's angry stomps, but Azula keeps changing the rhythm of her feet, which is making it hard. Ty Lee sticks her tongue out of the side of her mouth in concentration.

Servants in the hallways drop to their knees and kowtow when they pass, and Ty Lee giggles because, to her eight-year-old mind, they look like turtles, all hunched over like that. Azula, who's nine and therefore not so easily amused, rolls her eyes.

Ty Lee skips forward so that she can stand beside Azula. She watches the older girl out of the corners of her eyes, trying to angle her hips exactly the same way, tilt her head and swing her arms just like Azula. It's hard - Azula has this natural stalk, this way of walking that screams of anger and power and the ability to kick the ass of anyone who tries to take it away from her.

Ty Lee takes a step and trips, stumbling over the arm of one of the bowing servants. She immediately slips into a roll, coming up gracefully to crouch on her heels, and by the time she's standing again, Azula is already berating the woman. Ty Lee starts to giggle, and then snort, and by the time Azula stomps away from the terrified woman and grabs Ty Lee by the elbow to tow her away, she's laughing so hard she can barely walk. And Ty Lee doesn't see it clearly, but she thinks Azula smiles too.

o-o-o

She lands gracefully on her palm, using the strength in her arm alone to vault off again, flipping through the air. She lands near a training dummy and shoots several quick jabs into it's rib area, and her hands come away sooty from the bursts of fire Azula marked it's pressure points with. Ty Lee is barely out of the way when Mai's knives slam into the same spots, and Ty Lee is a little bit pleased to see that she's not quite on center.

o-o-o

Mai's hand is warm in Ty Lee's as they run down the hall. Ty Lee is trying and failing to stifle her giggles, and Mai is even smirking a little. The screams and roars of rage coming from the kitchens convince Ty Lee that this was the best. Prank. _Ever._

Azula ran off in another direction, so it's just the two of them, and there are servants in hot pursuit. Ty Lee grins and pulls Mai into a corner, and they watch, breathing hard, as a steady stream of angry hired help charge through. Mai has to put her hand over Ty Lee's mouth to keep her from giving them away with her laughs, and Ty Lee returns the favor, although Mai shakes it off and rolls her eyes at her.

Finally, the coast is clear, and Ty Lee realizes exactly how close she is to Mai, and exactly how warm Mai's breath feels where it's hitting her neck, and before she can talk herself out of it, she's leaning forward and smashing their lips together.

The kiss is awkward, and juvenile, and sloppy, and neither of them really knows what they're doing, but it's good, too.

Mai pulls back and wipes her mouth on the back of her sleeve, and her expression is unreadable again. She steps out of the alcove and heads for back to the rendezvous point they agreed on with Azula. But she doesn't let go of Ty Lee's hand.

o-o-o

Ty Lee is fifteen when she next thinks about girls like _that. _She and Mai haven't said anything about the kiss, but Mai is too much in love with Zuko for it to mean anything now, and Ty Lee has moved on. She is sprawled on her belly in the courtyard, plucking at grass and driving dirt under her fingernails, and she doesn't really feel as pink as she usually does.

She looks up at the sound of flames slicing through the air, and realizes Azula is outside, practicing her bending. The light is lending her face an alien quality, and she looks gorgeous and dangerous and powerful all at once.

Her thoughts can't seem to get away from Azula - how she looks with her hair down, the way her skirt parts and shifts over her thighs, the way her whole body lunges into each strike, and Ty Lee props her head in her hands, smitten. She never really noticed before how absolutely stunning Azula is, and now she wonders how she could have missed it.

o-o-o

Ty Lee has long since given up on either of her best friends. Mai likes boys - or, well, Zuko, at least - and Azula doesn't seem to like anything but power. Ty Lee's had a few trysts with lesser nobles, male and female alike, which she thinks make her the most experienced of her friends, but she doesn't want meaningless touching. She wants a _person._

o-o-o

She presses her cheek into Ty Lee's hip, slowly regaining her breath. Ty Lee's vision is slowly starting to clear, and she cards hands through her lover's hair, carefully. She grins - Ty Lee can feel it against her skin - and slides up her body, pressing against her side. _That _was most certainly not juvenile. Ty Lee's only eighteen, and she knows her lover is a few years younger, but still. Ty Lee feels like she could keep doing this with her forever.

o-o-o

I don't own AtLA.

o-o-o

A/N This is the first part of three ficlets told in random glimpses about each of Ozai's Angels. Mai is next, and then Azula. I really like writing in this style - little bits and pieces that don't have anything to do with each other except for one common theme or idea. Expect more in this vein from me. Also, the girl at the end can be whoever you want it to be. R&R, please.


	2. Cautionary Tales

The shallower a person's life is, the deeper it turns out to be.

o-o-o

Mai's hands are small and pale in her lap. She watches them resolutely, not paying any attention to the meeting going on around her. Adults are boring, always talking about the finances of war.

She's only nine - sure, she's smart for her age, but she doesn't see why the Fire Nation needs her to sit in on their war councils. They must be really desperate, to ask a child for advice. She wants to go and sit in the garden and watch Azula practice her bending, and listen to Ty Lee's playful banter about what the shapes the flames and smoke create could mean.

The man beside her nudges her side, and mutters "He's talking to you." She glances up to see that all of the nobles charged with plotting expenditures watching her, waiting for her opinion.

She observes them blandly, for a second, before sliding to her feet. She folds her arms over her chest and states quietly, "This is boring." With that, Mai turns on her heel and stalks from the room.

She finds Ty Lee and Azula where she figured she would, in the garden. Ty Lee grins and flings an arm over her shoulders, and the two of them watch as Azula spits fire and singes the ground. Slicing blades of grass between her fingernails, Mai thinks this isn't quite as boring as the rest of the world.

o-o-o

Her hands balance the knives, carefully, resting the ends between her fingers. The callouses on her palms formed around these knives, and as she lets them fly she feels something almost like loss. The ends plunge into the training dummy, stabbing into the burned, worn patches left by Azula and Ty Lee. A few stray bits of straw fall from the dummy, and she curls her lip when she sees that her knives are crooked.

o-o-o

Azula's tongue feels a little weird in her mouth, but good-weird. Mai leans into the kiss, closing her eyes because that's what always happens in the books. Azula's got a hand in her hair, too tight for comfort, and another that's going to leave finger-shaped bruises on her hip. It's a lot different than kissing Ty Lee or Zuko.

Azula pulls away and scowls at her. "You're not kissing back," she accuses, and Mai leans in dutifully, this time trying to participate more. Except when they do it like this, their tongues and teeth are struggling for dominance, and neither of them wants the other to seize control. Azula releases her and sighs.

"Never mind. This isn't working." She straightens her own clothes, and Mai's, and ties her hair back into it's topknot. Mai notices absently the way strands of it weave shadows against her fingers.

Azula walks away, and Mai wipes the back of her hand against her mouth.

o-o-o

Mai is fifteen when she decides that she likes Zuko best out of all the people she's kissed. There's just something about the way his lips drag along hers, less forceful than Azula, and a lot like Ty Lee, except not quite the same. Zuko is a little hesitant, too, a little nervous, and he's never really sure where to put his hands, so it's up to her to guide them to her hips or waist or shoulders.

He's doing it now, and his fingers are creeping up her neck to weave in her hair, and her body is pressed against his. Mai slides her hands up to his face, marveling at the smooth, unblemished skin, and steps away.

Zuko looks a little confused, and a little red, and Mai smirks. He raises an eyebrow, now looking less startled and more wry, and Mai has a hard time deciding which expression looks better on him. "What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing," she murmurs, and drops her hands from his neck to his waist. "You're not a very good kisser." He rolls his eyes.

"Well, it's not like I get a lot of practice. Do you?" It's obvious he means the last bit sarcastically, but she answers anyways.

"Yes."

"Really?" He looks surprised. "With who?"

Rather than tell him _Ty Lee _or _your sister_, Mai kisses him.

o-o-o

Zuko is gone, and it feels all kinds of bad, and she's more bored than ever. She's starting to get bored with Ty Lee and Azula, because what they do used to be strange and random, but now she's starting to pick out patterns, and she _hates _patterns. Patterns make everything feel stupid and the same and predictable, and Mai half wishes she had something to do that isn't Ty Lee or Azula, but no one else wants to be near the creepy girl who plays with knives.

o-o-o

Zuko's hand is warm in Mai's, and she's barely keeping herself from smiling, because he's _back_, he's back and he's all hers and he looks so much different. And Zuko actually _is_ smiling, and laughing, and the Avatar and his friends are there too. Mai presses her lips against his temple, his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, and her palms are sweaty and shaking, and she buries her face in the crook of his neck, vibrating with his laughter. And for once, Mai _beams._

o-o-o

I don't own AtLA.

o-o-o

A/N Part two of my three-part fic. Mai is tricky to write for, because I always want to justify her actions with emotions, which isn't a very Mai thing to do. But as far as het pairings go, Maiko is one of my favorites. R&R, please.


	3. A Little Flicker

Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.

o-o-o

Azula closes her eyes and folds her hands in front of her face. Her breathing slows, and she steps into her movements with steady hand and steadier thought. One arm, then the other, then her legs, torso contorting in familiar waves of motion, the contours of her body filling with heat. She can literally feel her temperature rising.

Her hands move easily through the air, arcing in smooth patterns, and she steps into a lunge, balancing her weight on one foot, and thrusting her hands out before her. Warmth pulses against her face, and she opens one eye to smirk at the vanishing globe of fire. Mai and Ty Lee clap obediently, but Azula ignores them, too caught up in the sheer power flooding her veins.

It feels like her eyes have been opened - like her blood was moving sluggish and slow before, and now it's swirling with all the power of a volcano, and sparks are jumping over her bones, and her muscles are glowing with heat.

She drops her hands, closing her eyes again and letting her head fall back. It's her first successful bending, and it feels amazing. She suddenly craves more, wants to keep doing this forever, wants to slam her body into the patterns, shove herself through the fire. She's only nine years old, and already she craves power.

Soot coats her hands as they clench into fists.

o-o-o

Her hands carve sharp lines in the air, her feet trace smooth circles on the ground, and bursts of fire slam into the training dummy, charring each pressure point. Her breath is heaving in her chest, and she smirks as first Ty Lee's fists and then Mai's knives thump into the marks she's left. They follow her automatically now, trusting her judgement. One day, they'll stand at the sides of her throne.

o-o-o

Azula pushes the door open, not bothering to knock. Zuko turns around, startled, in the process of tugging his shirt off. Azula sneers at him and leans against the doorframe, absently cutting globes of fire out of nowhere. She can see the jealousy in his eyes, and it makes it all the more worthwhile.

"What do you want?" he asks, turning away from her and continuing to undress. She smirks at his back.

"I want you to leave Mai alone." His spine jerks straight, but he doesn't look at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He's keeping his voice even, but he's being too careful about it - she can hear the tension in his words.

"You know _exactly _what I'm talking about." Azula keeps her voice clipped, but her anger seeps into her tone. "And I want you to leave Mai alone. She's _mine._" She's sorely tempted to stomp her foot, but that would be childish. Instead, she crosses her arms and bites the inside of her cheek until it bleeds.

Zuko turns around, and he looks angry. His face is paler than hers, and his eyes are the same shade of fire-gold. "Mai's not your property. I'm not making her do anything she doesn't want to." Azula raises an eyebrow.

"And you know what's best for everyone? You're so selfish. You make me sick." Azula spins on her heel and stomps out of the room. She slams the door, then pauses, listening to the hesitant creak as Zuko sits down on his bed and watching the light creeping from under the door snuff out.

o-o-o

Azula is fifteen when she decides she doesn't want to marry.

She has never been quite as interested in romance as her companions. Ty Lee makes baby eyes at every cute boy or girl coming her way, and Mai is so smitten with Zuko that it's gone all the way from being so much it's funny back to too much and annoying. Power is so much more interesting than love and bodies touching.

In a way, she thinks, her bending is like a lover. It fills her with satisfaction and pleasure, and she crafts it into what she wants it to be with a mere flick of her wrist. But bending and fire are things to be used, tools in conquering nations. Fire is much more useful to her than any man, or - thinking of Ty Lee - woman could ever be. Fire won't protest when Azula pays it no attention, and power doesn't demand reciprocation.

Azula trains at night, when she can better see the light of her fire. It circles her in it's arms, and her lightning zips around the room, and she takes an almost childish delight in the power dancing over her fingertips.

o-o-o

Azula doesn't know what she likes, but she knows what she hates. She hates her brother for being weak and her friends for being treacherous and her enemies for being happy. She hates her mother for doing something so horrible she was banished. And she hates herself for burning alive.

o-o-o

The waterbender steps into the dark cell, bringing with her a golden aura that stretches to drive shadows from the room. Katara has a basin of water braced on one hip, and a little white candle carried in her hand, and she's so beautiful Azula wants to tear off her face, just to see what she looks like ugly.

o-o-o

I don't own AtLA.

o-o-o

A/N Three of three. I think my favorite part of this series is the very last segment of Azula's chapter. It just worked the first time, and I didn't want to touch it. I'm quite fond of this whole thing, though. R&R, please.


End file.
